The woman who sold Matthew Perry the ketamine that killed him just got 15 years, and his family’s words to the court were devastating

Jasveen Sangha, known as the Ketamine Queen, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on April 8 for her role in the 2023 death of Matthew Perry. The story came to light following her guilty plea to five federal charges related to the actor’s fatal overdose, as detailed by NBC News. Perry, 54, was found unresponsive in his home pool in October 2023, and the Los Angeles courtroom proceedings marked the most prominent sentencing in a case that has drawn sustained public attention since.

The 42-year-old defendant, who holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and the United States, faced victim impact statements from Perry’s family during the hearing. Debbie Perry, who is married to the actor’s father John Bennett Perry, described the pain as irreversible and stated that the family finds no joy in their daily lives. She explicitly urged the court to deliver the maximum sentence to prevent Sangha from inflicting similar suffering on other families.

Prosecutors successfully argued for the 15-year term, emphasizing that Sangha continued her illicit operation even after learning through news reports that her products had been linked to Perry’s death. Court documents showed she immediately contacted her associate Erik Fleming via the encrypted messaging platform Signal with instructions to delete all their communications. Her defense team requested time served, arguing she had accepted responsibility, but the judge sided with the prosecution. Sangha addressed the court herself, describing her actions as poor choices and horrible decisions.

The supply chain that reached Perry ran through multiple people and took weeks to unravel

The investigation revealed a layered distribution network. Sangha and Fleming sold 51 vials of ketamine to Perry in the month he died, which were then funneled to the actor through his live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. Iwamasa admitted to injecting Perry multiple times, including on the day he died. Perry had been seeking unsupervised ketamine doses as his addiction worsened.

The legal fallout has been wide. Five individuals have pleaded guilty in connection with the case, amid other high-profile criminal sentencing cases drawing public attention, including an influencer convicted of fatally assaulting his partner and attempting a cover-up. Dr. Salvador Plasencia received 30 months in prison for illegally selling and injecting ketamine. Dr. Mark Chavez, who operated a clinic and supplied the doses that eventually reached Perry, received eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release. Both Fleming and Iwamasa have entered guilty pleas and are awaiting sentencing.

The evidence established that Sangha’s criminal activity was not limited to Perry’s case. She admitted to using her North Hollywood home to store and distribute narcotics including methamphetamine and ketamine dating back to 2019. She also acknowledged selling ketamine to Cody McLaury in 2019, who died from an overdose shortly after. Her attempt to delete communications with Fleming after Perry’s death, a pattern of concealment behavior also seen in other cases where suspects destroyed evidence after a partner’s suspicious death was cited by prosecutors as evidence of her awareness and intent.

Following the sentencing, Keith Morrison, a correspondent and Perry’s stepfather, described the judge’s decision as a highly reasoned sentence and said the family continues to miss Perry deeply. He added that he felt sadness for the perpetrator and that there were no winners in the situation.